bobmare

you might want to check out CDNN for some deals. they have some Lanbers in their catalog for good prices,among some brand names also. good luck.

Smithy

Well, I do believe you can still get a Red Label for under 2 grand. I thought that they were around 1500, but it's been awhile for me. I've owned quite a few of them eventually getting what I'd always dreamed of having, An all stainless Ruger Red Label with synthetic stock. It was a dream and all pleasure to shoot. I shot many a round of registered skeet with that gun and in a moment of stupidity, let someone talk me out of it. So yes they are a bit costly, but a bargain compared to its competition ie. Browning. So I thought why would a SXS be cheaper than an O&U? Then Ruger came out with its Gold Label and blew that assumption out of the water coming in a double the cost of the Red Label. If you want an O&U that will last several lifetimes in the field, you can't do wrong with a Red Label. And Yes, it's worth every cent! Smithy.

RAC55

I had a Beretta 686 O/U about 20 years ago. It had the Mobilechokes, silvered heavily engraved receiver...a little too pretty for a field gun. I used it for shooting clays and it was a beautiful gun, well balanced and light. I know they made a field grade that was less fancy, and If you could score one for under a grand, I think it would fit the bill.

arg0naut22

you mentioned red labels before to me in my other thread-- is that a maker or a model from a certain maker?

TMB

Ruger Red Label o/u.

Dozer02

Winchester 101's are also fine O/U's. They can be had for around $1000 & up depending on "grade". I bought my son a "Pigeon Grade" 101 in 28 gauge to introduce him to clays and I believe, if allowed, he'd sleep with it! (lol) The action and cosmetics of it are absolutely gorgeous and it's fit & function are flawless to say the least. It allows him to break clays without recoil fatigue (he's only seven and weighs 55lbs), he stays the course at the club instead of getting sore from the heavier bump of the 20 guage.

Waveform

arg0naut22, like TMB said the Red Label is a Ruger product and a very fine one at that. Sadly it was discontinued in 2011 leaving no American made production O/U shotgun. There are still some new old stock guns out there with prices from $1300 to $2000 depending on the sellers opinion of rarity/collectability now that they are discontinued. MSRP before being discontinued was just under $2K

The good news is there are good buys on the used market if you are patient and willing to look around. And there are always a few dozen for sale at any given time on GunBroker.com and other auction sites. In my case I found a 12 ga RL from the mid-eighties at a pawn shop for around $650. The older guns often had prettier wood (more available I suppose) and this one was no exception - beautiful grain, great color. Like all the older RL it has fixed chokes (one barrel full & one imp) - the removable chokes came later. I point this out because if you are looking at an older fixed choke RL you need to check what it has. If you want to shoot clays then you can find ones that are skeet & skeet for instance. The fixed choke guns have the choke stamped on the side when you break it open along with max shell length. The newer guns use removable chokes and come with a set of chokes and a nice tool for changing them. Also when looking at used O/U you can use your snap caps and check for function. An O/U shotgun is a rather complicated mechanical device and partly why they are so expensive. There are ejectors and extractors and a single selective trigger. When you load and close the receiver the safety goes on. You can also slide the safety left or right to "T" (top) or "B" (bottom) to select which barrel fires first. If you fire a barrel and open the receiver the spent shell ejects but the unfired shell does not however it can be extracted by hand. So you can test the function with your snap caps to make sure the selective action, ejectors and extractors all work as they should.

My old RL shoots like a dream but it was a field gun and has the dings, nicks and scratches that come with use over the years. I'm OK with that. I imagine all the bird hunting it has enjoyed over the past 30 years and I feel like I have a trusted veteran in my hands. I think I paid a fair price given condition but I'm sure there are some who have done better by paying less for a similar gun or paid the same for a newer model with better cosmetics.

It seems Ruger CS is still supporting the Red Label. There is a recent thread here about a newly aquired RL that had some issues and the OP sent it in to Ruger and they not only fixed the problem but re-blued the barrels too and all at no cost on a gun that was around 20 years old(!). How long Ruger will continue to service the RL remains to be seen but there are many competent gunsmiths who can work on them should Ruger stop doing so.

There are a lot of variations too - 12ga, 20ga, 28ga, engraved, English stock, the all weather synthetic/SS version Smithy mentioned, the Woodside, blued receivers, special editions, the stunning Gold Label side-by-side and probably other variations too. I guess you can tell I love the Red Label!

Wave

P.S. Taking my classic Red Label dove hunting next Saturday!

David Bradshaw

When Bill Ruger tooled up to produce the Red Label 20 gauge O/U in Newport NH, he thought he had the barrel regulation challenge figured out. He went through fits trying to get the keep production costs down.

Among the things they did, though, was to make an 0ver/under .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. Blew out the firing pins, but he got that sorted out. Proved the Ruger Red Label a very strong design, as few over/under or side-by-side doubles could handle that.
David Bradshaw